The substitutes
by Seneti
Summary: My idea of what might have come after season one. Rating just to be safe. Genre... I had no idea If you want me to continue with the story, review. Will later on include a new timekeeper and all famiiar kh characters. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**The substitutes**

Disclaimer: All characters appearing inboth any of the chapters in this story AND in Stephen King's „Kingdom Hospital" do not belong to me. I don't get money for this.

A.N.: There isn't much to say about this story. Basically, it starts where the first season ends. Have fun. (You may also review of course )

* * *

I – Forever haunted

_Bones may break, glass may shatter,_

_You can always make it better._

_But broken souls make broken hearts_

_So no one ever from this place departs._

_xxx_

She kept going through the corridors and the sight send shivers down her spine. Those grey walls seemed to come closer with every step she made. They were grey, dirty and full of cobwebs. God, how she wished to be back at home behind those glass walls of their living room! "Peter? Peter, honey? Darling? Hello!"

Natalie usually was no one to be scared easily. In fact she remembered Peter complaining about how nothing could ever even make her shriek from shock – he had given up on trying to do just that long ago.

But he was wrong. She didn't know why, but that place scared the hell out of her.

"Hey, honey! What are you doing here? It's not even visiting hours. Shouldn't you be at home in bed?" A relieved sigh escaped her mouth. Glad to have found her husband finally, she turned around slowly.

xxx

Natalie Rickman awoke without screaming but backed up against the wall as quickly as possible. Her arms firmly closed around herself, she roamed the room quickly. The cobwebs faded slowly, merging into the curtains of their bedroom window. The dirt vanished, replaced by little spots of moonlight that played on the ground. Closing her eyes, she tried to shake the rest of the dream off herself. Just a nightmare. Thank God. As she opened them again, she realised that the space beside her was warm, but empty.

Carefully, she slipped into her night gown and made her way down the stairs. She knew exactly where to find him. Although he had never sneaked out of bed at four o' clock in the morning, there was only one room she could imagine.

The lights in his "little kingdom", as they always called it (what a phrase now, after what they had been through), were dim, but on. As she had thought, he was painting. What else would a painter do in the middle of the night?

"Peter?" Fear crept up inside her, as he turned around to her slowly. Most of her dream had faded away. Most of it. Everything but that vision of…

"Nat, what's—"

"God, Peter, you're alright, you're alright. God, thank God." She interrupted him quickly by throwing herself against him. She could feel confusion and hesitation inside him, before his arms finally went around her and he planted a short kiss on her hair. Step by step, realisation dawned inside him. "You had a nightmare, darling. I'm okay, really. See." To prove it, he lifted her up a bit and gave her another kiss. "See, I can walk, I can speak – everything is fine. It was just a nightmare."

"Thank God. For a moment I really thought you--" Sneaking out of his embrace, she took a step back, but froze immediately. Her eyes widened, even as she tried to speak, but just couldn't form the words. It was like a stone inside her throat. "God, Peter, you painted it."

_I painted a lot during those last minutes._ Peter thought glumly. In fact, he had not been that creative since… never actually. He turned around, too, facing whatever scared her like that. What he saw made him raise an eyebrow sceptically. "That was Gottreich's kingdom. I walked through it for a couple of times, together with Mary. Made my bones chill at the first time."

Paralyzed by the tiny rest of the dream, Natalie just kept staring at it. With a nod, Peter turned around again and grabbed for a brush. "I see. Watch this." Without hesitating, he took some albino white and brushed about the painting two times, leaving a big white cross on it.

"Peter…" Shocked by his reaction, she stepped next to him and gazed at him helplessly. "Peter, you just drew that painting!"

"Yes, I did. And it scared you. I don't want anything in my house that scares you." Without haste, he put the brush away and covered the painting. "I will draw it anew someday. Maybe at the end. I have a feeling like I could fill a whole gallery from all the memories in my head." When she smiled weakly, he took her hand and led her out of the room. "Let's go to bed, Natalie. We've got to get up at 7 o' clock, remember?"

xxx

They arrived at the insane place others called "Kingdom Hospital" right at 8:10. Hook had told them that this MRI was "just to be totally safe", but still she had that creepy feeling inside her stomach, as she entered the halls. Three days ago, they could have died inside those walls. All of them. And now she and her husband were – voluntarily! – coming back. She really must have lost her mind.

Her mood improved slightly as she saw Hook approaching them. He was a good doctor. He knew about his subject. If he said "it's just to be safe", then it was "just to be safe". She was sure about that.

The MRI went without any problems. The scans showed no abnormalities. No shadows, no "UBO's". She had done research on the whole medical stuff while Peter had still been in a coma.

"See, darling…" Embracing her again, he drew her closer. "I told you everything was fine. My nut is alright again and there are no earthquakes, ghosts, or—"

The cry came as unexpected as a thunderstorm on a summer's day and vanished into nothing at the same speed. The only thing it left was cold silence. It had been a child's cry. But it had not sounded like Mary. Not at all.

"Did you hear that? Dr. Hook, did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Mrs Rickman…" Feeling slightly embarrassed, Hook tried to stay as rational and polite as he could. "I can understand that the last days were really hard and exhausting for you and your nerves may still suffer a little bit from that, but—"

"Nonsense. Hook, I'm not insane and I'm not ready for a tropical sunset therapy holiday. I heard a child scream."

"Natalie…" More worried than embarrassed, Peter drew her even closer. "Darling, there is no reason to—"

Another scream broke the silence. This time, all three of them turned their heads up to the ceiling, from where the scream seemed to have come. Taking a deep breath, Peter sighed in frustration. "Hell, no. Not again."

* * *

A.N.: So, how did you like the first chapter? You want another one? 


	2. Carmen Crandall

II – Carmen Crandall

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH characters, but I own Carmen (even though her last name is a stolen one smirk.

A.N.: Please note that this chapter contains more of blood and violence. I would not call it bloody, but it's … it fits the rating.

* * *

_When silence laughs, you know you're out._

The darkness slowly turned into blurry shadows, then into vague shapes and back again. A street, a lantern… oh, wait, wasn't that sign over there…?

She got up slowly, staggering as something in her leg cracked faintly. Though she doubted it was faintly in real. She felt numb. Her body was bleeding, but the pain held a soft edge. _Trauma._ She told herself. _Try to hold it until you're there, girl. Come on. Just four blocks. Straighten up. _With the energy of a half-dead, she started stumbling through the alleys.

xxx

„Okay, so what the hell is going on here? I thought all the trapped spirits were free now." Trying to relax, Natalie took a sip from her cup of coffee. She had gotten rid of the idea of having a normal life again already two weeks ago, but still she didn't appreciate that new ghost voice. Why couldn't it just be… over?

Next to her, Hook was still standing upright, but he also had the signs of shock on his face. „Frankly speaking, I don't have a clue, but I'm sure MRs. Druse will be able to help us."

„You mean once she is back from her holidays in the Caribbean?" When Hook glared at him in frustration, a short smile flashed across Peter's lips. „Sorry."

Silence filled the room again. There had been no more earthquakes since Mary had been freed. And those cries had been the only ones so far. Whoever that ghost was, he was alone. A single spirit. Trapped alone in Swedenborgian Space.

xxx

She pushed herself up again. Had she fallen onto the ground? She didn't remember. As she urged herself to go on, the vision started to become clear again. _Good._

She noticed a few pedestrians passing by and glaring at her in shock. There were only few of them. The sun had not yet risen completely and the only people who came to the hospital at that time - hospital?

Her inner smile slowly curved her lips. She gazed at the red letters above the entrance. EMERGENCY. _Yeah baby._ She had done it. With a last effort, she pushed the doors open.

xxx

The frst sound that echoed through the halls was the one of Natalie Rickman's cup of extra strong coffee shattering on the ground. The next was the voice of Hook. "Holy mother of God!"

The girl that stood a few feet away from him in the emergency entrance was a whole mess.

Her black, curled hair was soaked with blood, clinging to her face like an awkward frame. Her blouse and trousers were shredded and some of the hugest haematomas he had ever seen had formed on her wrists and upper arms. Her fingers were bleeding. One of her shins seemed to be fractured. A freaky little smile appeared on her lips, before she fell to the ground, breathing like a shipwrecked who had just been pulled out of the Pacific.

"Natalie, do me a favour and tell Otto to call Dr. Traff and nurse Hilton. Peter, help me."

He didn't waste another second. The girl seemed to be awake, but she was fading. Every single second was important now. "Here." He handed Peter his coat, then knelt down to search for the girl's pulse. "You see the cut in the fractured leg? Wrap it up. Tight. She loses another liter of blood and it's over." He frowned again, as his suspicion came true. Her pulse was in ecstasy height, but he knew it would drop with the snap of a finger. She would collapse if Louis didn't come here quickly. And she would die.

xxx

The doctors were already there when Natalie Rickman came back. Her husband was standing next to them, looking rather exhausted than shocked now. "Hey, Peter, honey, what-

Good god…" With her own hands shaking, she reached for his ones. They were red from blood.

"She's lost a lot of blood, but Dr. Traff said she's going to be alright again. Said he already knew her." When he found Natalie still staring at his bloody hands, he sighed in frustration. "Back home?"

She only nodded

xxx

The darkness was back once again, but this time she knew it wasn't real. She had already walked those corridors. She knew their floors, their elevators and the stereo boxes of course.

She also knew that it was useless to go on walking.

xxx

Hook entered the room with his typical I'm-sorry-but-I'm-always-on-the-move-look on his face. The girl was now lying still. She looked exhausted, but at least safe. With a nod towards Louis, who was quietly standing next to her, he stepped nearer. "Did Liz found out who our young lady is?"

"She didn't have to." Louis answered with an edge of bitterness in his voice. "The young lady's name is Carmen Crandall. 19 now, from the East End of Lewiston. I have already informed her father. Her mother died a few years ago."

"You seem to know quite a lot about her."

"_Yeah, baby, tell him." She knew she wasn't talking for real. She knew that no one in the outside world would hear her. But that didn't matter._

"She has been taken here for three times now."

"_Two times, dummy. This time I walked here on my own two feet."_

"Always for the same reason."

"Jesus Christ." For a moment, Hook had a feeling like the ground to his feet was turning into swamp water. Uneasy ground. "It's the third time she has had to live through… all of this?" He couldn't find a better expression. Her injuries were too many to summarize.

"Not all of it. The last two times it had "only" " Louis had a feeling like he would choke of the word, "only been rape. The burns and slashes are new."

"_Oh yeah." Memory began to build up slowly inside her. Dr. Traff was right. One of those sons of a bitch had decided to stub out his cigarettes on her legs. And hadn't the pendant on the chain he had used to play stars and stripes on her face been Jesus Christ?_

"The police probably won't even believe her." Louis continued. "The more often she gets here, the less they believe that it's just pure coincidence. But I guess she won't even care. She doesn't complain a lot. Not even trauma. Silent resistance, one could say. She's got a damn "straighten up" attitude."

xxx

Oh yes, she had. She was sure about that. No way in hell would she allow those guys to ruin her life more than they already had. She would go on and if she'd ever see them again, she'd punch their faces into an ugly pulp of flesh and bones. Happy birthday, wrath.

The sound of little footsteps on the ground startled her. She knew them already. Small steps, but heavy ones. Quiet. Another smile appeared on her lips as she saw his animal face around the corner.

"Hi, Anubis." She weaved him hello, but he only kept staring at her. "Hey, Anubis, anything wrong today? You look sad." Again, he didn't answer her, but now he slowly approached her and the look in his eyes made her chill from the inside. This wasn't the Anubis she knew. This cold dark creature that looked at her with what seemed to be blame. Not sadness.

"Anubis!" Quietly, she backed up against the wall. " Anubis what's wrong? Stop, please. Don't come nearer. Anubis!"

For a moment the anteater hesitated, then fletched his teeth once. And left. A relieved sigh escaped her mouth.

"Was pretty close, huh?"

She turned around the corner immediately to find him in front of her. The doubts were easy to see in her eyes. "Paul?"


	3. A lousy day for Bugs

Chapter III – A lousy day for Bugs

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH characters, but I own Carmen.

A.N.: Here I am back again, folks. Sorry for updating that late. I have been having final exams the last two months, so I just didn't find any time to write. I promise to do better.

Rating as always. If you can't stand slightly bloody scenes and a little bit of bad language, don't read.

I almost forget: Sorry if I've got some mistakes in the medical jargon. Not that much of my favourite parts of science.

* * *

_When strength fades, fear is a gift._

"Paul, what the hell are you doing here? Don't you think my night has been bad enough already?"

As she tried to rush past him, he grabbed her upper arm and sent her bruises singing automatically. "You don't even want to thank me for saving your life?" At her startled face, a little giggle rippled from his throat. "You have seen this flee ridden monster, Carmen. He would have ripped your head off, if I hadn't been here."

She wanted to curse him, but at the same time she knew that he was right. Antibus had not come to help her this time. He hadn't even come past her accidentally. He had come for her. She just wasn't sure why.

"So what next, Paul? Shall I spend a nice evening with you and doctor "slaughter my brain"? I know you by now. You never do anything without getting a big charge out of it. What do you want?"

"Nothing but your own best." He followed her slowly as she started to amble through the cold halls. They were looking a bit warmer now then they had before Mary had been freed, but that didn't matter to him. "You are more of a use to me if you get out of this hospital on your own two feet again, Carmen."

In her head, she tried to put some order into her thoughts. She didn't even remember the last time she had spoken to Paul. Anubis had told her to stay away from him and she had done so. Even now that the parts seemed to have switched, her instincts told her to better keep to that line.

>>>

In Mona Klingerman's room, the TV was on again. The little girl stared at it without showing a single reaction. Colours, words, sounds. Everything seemed to be lost on her. Sighing, Carrie checked the machines for the last time.

She had not spent a long time at the sleep lab. After the "head line", as most of the doctors called it with a smile, she had lost the interest in brain scans. Unfortunately, the sleep lab had been the only station left on her journey through the hospitals departments.

It had been Hook – who else – who had offered her to try the "ped" once again. With the explanation that she would be the perfect nurse for that little patient, Hook had had her meet Dr. Draper, who was now responsible for Mona. With a little smile, Carrie wondered if Dr. Stegman had found a job vacuuming, now that he was charged in front of court. The jury did yet have to judge, but the chances he would ever come back were close to zero. Therefore, Dr. Draper now looked after Mona.

The little patient herself had not yet made any progress at all. It made Carrie sad to see her like that every day, but at the same time, the sadness awakened a feeling she hadn't known about before.

She would help Mona. Darn it, she would help her, even if it was the last thing she would ever do as a nurse. And so Carrie von Trier was never in a bad mood, never even so much as frustrated, when it came to Mona.

Mrs. Klingerman liked it that way. The first time she had met the young nurse, she had yelled at her. Now she even played rummy with her, when Mona was quietly sleeping. The energy Carrie spent just to help her little girl made her proud somehow. She appreciated Carrie's optimism, her strength and even her weakness in terms of nerves. It only made her more human.

But this day, she would not appreciate it at all.

>>>

It began all too peacefully with one of the little seizures they had gotten used to by now. Even Carrie had gotten used to them. They were nothing extraordinary. But this day, they were nothing but the beginning of a dreadful series.

The seizures returned and they got even worse. Carrie even had to give Mona full sedation in order to keep her from collapsing or even worse. But the breaking point was 3.34 pm. Whatever would happen in future, Carrie knew she would never forget that specific time.

Mona was watching TV again, as usual. This time it was Bugs Bunny running from A to B and back again, trying to get rid of some little alien creatures following him. "Hey, Mona, how is Bugs doing?" Experimentally, Carrie stepped next to Mona's bed to have the same perspective. "How's Bugs doing, Mona? Doesn't look that good for him right now, does it?"

Silence spread. "Mona?" Startled by the quiet, Carrie glanced down at the little girl. Not getting any answer from her was quite usual, but still the silence felt odd this time. When her eyes met Mona's she leaped backwards immediately.

This wasn't Mona anymore. She was totally sure about that. She had seen her eyes being empty, emotionless, but never that… evil. It took Carrie a while to get used to the thought. Evil. A demon peering at an empty wall. Yes, Carrie couldn't see him. She did not see Paul standing there with the intention to kill.

"Carmen." Keeping an eye on Paul, Mona turned to Carrie again. The nurse was nothing else but a trembling body anymore. "Carrie, you will need Carmen. And Peter. Go."

Gracious as a feather, the nurse fell down to the ground.

"Ah, there she goes again." Grinning, Paul stepped closer. "It was a clever move of yours, Maat, to leave that whore when she came down to our kingdom." Slowly, he closed his fingers around Mona's throat. "But it was a bad one to switch to a half-dead, paralysed child."

A short smile flashed over Mona's face. "Paul… hide and seek, you know?"

"Within a second, Paul drew back again, feeling that her force had vanished. She had switched again. Again, she had slipped right through his fingers. Disappointed, he left. He would find her. Hide and seek, but not forever.

>>>

The monitors switched to black right when Renee Klingerman entered the room. To her feet, Carrie lay, still unconscious. As she stepped closer, Rene felt her knees shake.

The TV monitor was smeared with blood, Bug's head hanging ripped off in a tree. Behind Rene, Mona's EKG curves turned to a single line.

* * *

A.N.: Once again, sorry I didn't update for such a long time. Please read and review. I promise the next chapter will be on within the next month. 


	4. Dreams and Madness

IV – Dreams and madness

A.N.: Thanks to all my reviewers who keep waiting all the time. I know it's hard to do so and I must confess that I could have updated earlier this time. I hope you enjoy that chapter. Warning: Bad language.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH characters nor the hospital itself, blabla. They belong to Lars von Trier and Stephen King. I nevertheless own Alice Deling and Carmen Crandall.

* * *

_There is a small border _

_between the genius and the mad man._

_Some cross it several times a day._

Alice Deling was on the move again, as always. She glanced at her watch briefly before she shouted orders at no one in particular, as always. She was used to messed up days. She was used to situations like the one she was in now. She was sure she was.

The telephone rang right after she had sat down to sort in the files on her table. Business was going well. Her firm kept earning money, the clients were content with the service and their number doubled with every week. Taking a sip from the hot coffee on the table, she grabbed for one of the reports before she took the phone in her left hand.

"Hey, darling, it's-"

"Michael!" She yelled excited and almost spilled some of her coffee. "Hi baby, why are you calling? Any trouble with the reservation of the table?"

"No." The reply came short, faint and above all, hesitating. She could already here the breath he took on the other end of the line. "Alice, we can't go on like that. It's over."

"Pardon?" The smile froze on her face, turning into a clown's grimace as the honesty vanished from it. "Darling can you repeat that please?"

"It's over, Alice." The man repeated again. "You know, I'm sorry we've come to that point. I like you, I really love you, but all the time you spent on the job during the last two months… How much time do we spend together a day? Two minutes? Alice, I can't do that. I'm sorry."

"You are sorry." Her voice was still calm, the grimace still on her face. Only a moment after, hell broke loose. "YOU ARE SORRY! YOU FUCKING, SELF-CENTERED MORON! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TALKING TO?"

"Alice, I--"

"SHUT UP!" Her voice echoed through all of the halls, drawing the attention of every single one of her attendants. "You honestly think you can leave me just like that? Get the fuck out of my house, you darn scum and I tell you, if I find you there when I come home tonight I'm gonna bash your freaking little moron head!" Spouting a last curse at him, she threw the phone right onto the next wall. Her face was flushed now, her body was shivering from rage. Her usually perfectly styled hair stood in odd ankles and two of her freshly painted nails were broken. After a second of sheer blindness, she noticed the crowd glaring at her. "Get the fuck out of here!"

Immediately, most of her attendants decided to run. Alice was no one to fool around with. If she was mad, she could not be stopped. Clueless, two of her younger assistants kept standing in front of her office. Paralysed by the fury of their boss, they stood like a salt column.

"What are glaring at, huh?" Still not the least calmed down, Alice grabbed for one of the chairs in her office and smashed it against the glass walls separating her and the secretaries. Suddenly, the glass was everywhere. In her mind, one of her attendants juggled with the numbers. They would have a hell of a time getting the office repaired.

"You are all idiots! You are all ridiculous, goddamn idiots!" Finally, Alice anger started to fade and with it her strength. Tears came up in her eyes, as she sank down to the ground. Only a second later, she felt the worst pain she had ever felt in her chest. Panic set in when she felt breathing becoming harder. "Can't breath… ambulance… call the fucking ambulance." And then, everything got black.

She awoke to the monotonous beeping of machines. An ECG if she wasn't mistaken. She was dreaming. She goddamn hoped she was dreaming. But the male voice that reached her taught her better.

* * *

"How is she Ollie?" Danny asked while trying to keep the car in the right lane.

"Doesn't look THAT bad." His colleague answered while fumbling with another injection needle. "Had a little heart attack, but she's returning to normal. Vitals are okay and – hey – she is awake." Astonished, he looked at the widened eyes of his patient. "Hey, miss, can you hear me? Just blink twice if you can." When she did so, a smile stretched across his face. "Wow, can you believe that, Danny? We are actually having one patient who's not dead or unconscious when we reach the hospital. Guess that's our lucky day."

_Lucky day? You pathetic moron! _Again, rage came up insider her. She would hang him, that son of a bitch. And Michael would be the next. She would hang them all. She-

"Oh, shit, she's dropping again." Ollie exclaimed frustrated as he saw her ECG display some of the wildest outbursts he had ever seen. Frowning, he grabbed for another sedative. "Guess I talked too much again, didn't I?"

A smug smile stretched across Danny's face as he saw the Kingdom Hospital at the other end of the road. ""As always, Ollie. As always."

* * *

She fell back into the darkness, but this time it wasn't the cosy one she had come to appreciate. She was inside a building with long halls and lots of doors. It looked pretty much like a hospital. A damn dirty one. Disgusted, she tried not to step into one of the cobwebs or whatever the other stuff on the floor was. "Jesus, this place could need a cleaning crew."

"We are unfortunately out of money." A young, male voice answered. She found him standing right behind her, though she could have sworn that there had been no one when she had gotten up from the ground. "Who are you?" Her voice trembled. Whether from fear, disgust or pure confusion she didn't know. "What do you want from me?"

"No need to be scared." The boy answered, bowing to her slightly. "I'm Paul. Assistant of Doctor Gottreich."

"Gottreich?" She couldn't recall having heard of him.

"Yes, Gottreich. You are lucky to find us. The hospital is big. You can get lost here very quickly." A small grin on his lips, he offered her his hand. "Come. The doctor wants to meet you in the pain room."

"Pain room." She could almost feel her face pale. "This is not real, right? I'm dreaming. No, I'm not dreaming… I… I'm unconscious… yes that's it… unconscious, this is just some sort of vision, isn't it?"

He smiled lazily at the way her voice got higher with every word and sweat started to break on her forehand. Her hands trembled along with her voice. She was scared. On the other hand, she wasn't that wrong.

* * *

"So, how is she doing?"

"Hard to tell. She is switching between heart attack and baby-like sleep every half an hour." Lona answered on a sigh. "At the beginning I thought it was her heart, but she is perfectly healthy. Her EEG doesn't show any abnormal things either and the brain scans are as good as they could be. I honestly don't see her problem."

"She is talking to him." Christa whispered as she glanced into the room. Next to her, a grin stretched across Abel's face. "Yes she is. She is in the old kingdom."

"No place for unsteady minds." Both of them said simultaneously and chuckled.

"Get one of the psychs to see her and double the sedatives." Hook mentioned quickly before he rushed out of the room. "I fear her problem lies way behind the borders of reason."

* * *

Natalie Rickmann parked the car in the very next parking slot she could find and let out a sigh of defeat. "Peter, are you really sure that you dreamed what you dreamed?"

He grinned at her shortly, but it didn't last long. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes. The pleading look that said nothing more but: Not again, please. Can't we just like… drop that topic?

"I 'm afraid I did." Came his short reply. "I've got to see her. I know you don't like it and you have enough of it. I feel the same." When she glared at him with doubt in her eyes, he reached for her hands. "Believe me, darling, I would love to tell you that it is all just a joke and that we can just drive back home, go to bed and sleep like marmots till morning comes, but I'm afraid we can't. I've got to talk to her. The earlier, the better."

Sighing once again, Natalie got out of the car. "I'm really waiting for all this stuff to end, you know."

* * *

Christine Draper was quite surprised to find Peter and his wife already waiting for her. She had just thought of calling them, notwithstanding the fact that it was close to midnight again already and she had expected the two of them to be peacefully asleep in their bed in their glass home. "Strange. One would have thought we'd do this on purpose." She smiled at them and stretched out her hand to greet them. "Nice to see you once again. I hope it's not some sort of injury that takes you here."

"Nothing worse than an injury of my sleep." Peter mentioned. "I know it sounds strange, but I would like to meet Mona Klingermann. And I now THAT sounds even the more strange, but I have seen her in my dreams and she was telling me to come here over and over again. I just couldn't get the picture out of my head."

The smile faded from Christine's face. "Then THIS is probably the strangest of all: She has been calling for you."

"Calling?" Natalie raised an eyebrow sceptically. "But didn't the articles in the newspaper say she couldn't even bring out one word?"

"She can't. Biologically, she can't." Chris explained calmly. "But she did. More than one word. A whole sentence, actually. Please…" She turned around and motioned them to follow her. "This way."

* * *

A.N.: Shame on me, I updated so late. Okay, people, I hope you liked this chapter. I know it's all quite confusing right now and I've made up a lot of new questions instead of answering the old ones, but that's KH, right? Well… um … ready to read reviews 


	5. A night on the ped

A.N.: WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry for updating so late. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

V – A night in the Ped

Mona Klingerman's room was quiet again, as it had always been. The machines kept beeping monotonously as if nothing had happened. Still, Peter could feel the cold of the ghost realm that still lingered. If only Mrs. Druse had been there…

"She just started talking to Carrie." Christine explained, while checking all the monitors. "She said she would need you and someone named "Carmen"." She watched Peter and Natalie change glances of confusion and added: "Hook said you just saved her life recently."

"Oh dear heavens!" Natalie threw her hands into the air helplessly. "Not that girl again! She was complete mess. She scared the hell out of us. How shall she be able to help us?"

Christine simply shrugged in response. How was she supposed to know? She had a feeling like she was the last to realise what was going on anyway.

Frowning, Peter took a chair and sat down next to little Mona. Whoever was trying to talk to them, he or she was using every single chance there was. He wouldn't be surprised if someone told him that Carmen had been under the influence of the spirit, too. "Mona? Mona, can you hear me?" He reached for her hand carefully, but pulled back within seconds. Still, it had not been fast enough.

The pictures flooded his head with and enormous amount of colours, expressions, shapes and information, making his head spin. It felt like watching a movie at 42 times accelerated speed without skipping scenes or even single pictures. Sighing, he gestured to his wife and Dr. Draper to hand over pencils and paper. Maybe Mona couldn't talk to them. Maybe the trapped spirit would not talk to them directly. But they could very well encourage him to do what he could do best.

He started drawing immediately, to keep the memory from fading away. He knew all too well how short-lived inspiration was. On the other end of the room, Natalie turned to leave. "We'd better leave him alone now. Do you have the room under surveillance?" When Dr. Draper nodded, she sighed with what seemed to be half relief and half frustration. "Okay, Peter, I'm going to have a look at Carmen. We'll be back in…" She glanced at her watch briefly. "Say… 15 minutes." They left the room as quietly as possible and headed for the ICU.

"I'm still wondering how that girl's going to help us." Christine mentioned absently. "Because, as you said, she's a complete mess. She has not even woken up yet." Their steps echoed down the hall , disturbing the cold silence that was so rarely experienced on that floor. It was quite unusual not to have calls for nurses or doctors on that level. "If only Mrs. Druse was here! She'd know what to do."

"We do not necessarily need HER." Natalie answered, as another thought came to her mind. "If this has anything to do with ghosts and / or Anubis, then why don't we ask Abel and Christa?"

"That would be a good idea, indeed." Christine agreed before pushing open the doors to the room they had put Carmen in, together with the woman from the lawyer firm. They both were sound asleep and Christine was grateful to have the hysterical lawyer silent for a while. She had occasionally been a real pain in the neck.

Carmen on the other hand had been lying still for most of the time. The only interference they had had with her were the nightmares that every now and then haunted her. But for now, she just lay peacefully asleep.

To Natalie, the sight was extremely confusing, though. The last time she had seen that girl, she had looked way worse. The blood was gone and the streaks and scratches were quite easily visible on her face and arms now, not to mention the numerous haematoma. Beatings were one thing, but the only word she could find for that was "murder". Or at least the attempt, which was a crime anyway. Her hair wasn't wet with sweat and blood anymore and now flew tenderly along her shoulders in corkscrew curls. Only a few nights before, she must have been a real beauty.

"Any clue about when she might wake up again?" Natalie asked carefully, but only received a short "no" in reply. "But Louis said if there is any way she could help, she probably will." Christine added. "She's been here twice before and he knows her quite well."

Natalie nodded in approval. Readiness to help was a good thing, but nevertheless, it could not help the fact that this girl had to wake up first, before she could do ANYTHING for them. "Well, I guess as long as she is unconscious, she won't be of great help. Could you phone us when she is up again?"

"Of course. In fact we-" The pager in her pocket snapped on and sent her senses back to red alert. "Gotta go. Emergency call in the Ped."

"Mona?"

"No." She was half way out of the room already. Emergency calls always meant that it was a matter of seconds. Especially when children were involved. Frowning, Natalie watched the doors shut close again. Thank God it hadn't been Mona's room. A heart attack was the last thing she needed right now. Sighing, she went to leave the room, too. Maybe Peter had had more success.

* * *

She didn't know whether to be glad or not when she found her supposition affirmed. Her husband now sat quietly next to little Mona, watching her with silent commiseration.

"From an A-student to a helpless cripple." He mentioned in a low voice. "I'm not sure if I could have stood this had it been our child."

"Neither am I." Natalie agreed, while taking another chair. A short smile played on her lips when she leaned over to look at the drawings. "This place really frees your imagination, doesn't it?"

"Despite the fact that I don't have the slightest idea just WHY I drew WHAT – yes."

They looked through the pages together again. One of them showed a couple of albino white feathers that fell down the floor in silent grace. Beautiful, white feathers, as soft on the paper as they were in their natural form. The second picture showed an old-fashioned scale. Despite the fact that a pencil was the only thing that he had used, Natalie could almost see the colours this one was supposed to have. Strong, midnight blue and gold in perfect harmony. Ancient. The third picture showed a young woman dressed in a flowing white robe. A priestess. Eyes widening, Natalie grabbed for the sheet. "Oh my god, Peter, that's her!"

"Who?"

"Carmen." She watched as he raised an eyebrow in doubt and switched glances between the picture and his wife. "Believe me, Peter, I just saw her on ICU and that definitely is her. I had a few problems recognising her myself." Peter turned to look at the picture again. The difference was – in the nicest words he found for it – absolutely weird.

"What's on the last picture?" She reached for the fourth sheet, but stopped when her gaze met the drawings. It was the simplest picture of them all, but also the most startling one. it showed scripts too old for her to understand, though she knew what they belonged to. "That looks like Egyptian hieroglyphs."

"It IS ancient Egyptian." Peter admitted. "Though it goes way beyond my understanding, it doesn't surprise me that much. Anubis an ancient Egyptian god, remember?"

* * *

Three rooms farther down the hall, Christine turned off the monitors that were supposed to show the little boy's heart and brain activity, while the nurses covered his face with a blanket. She hated to watch children die, though she knew that – in this case – death had been inevitable. His heart damage had been way too severe to make them capable of anything but slowing it down. Nevertheless, his death hurt more than a direct hit to her face.

She was already on her way pout of the room, when she noticed the cold that crept across the floor, the feeling like a veil of fog on a cold autumn's day. Her eyes skimmed the room again and for a few moments, she could have sworn she had seen that ghost boy, Paul, standing in the corner next to the dead boy. She had to be mistaken. Christine was totally sure about that. They had saved Mary and thus changed the past, hadn't they?

* * *

With the silent grace of a huge cat, Anubis kept strolling through the corridors in the Ped. She was there. He could feel it. She was somewhere along that corridor, in one of those rooms, on one of those little patients. Just where… Trying to pick up her familiar scent, he kept going from door to door.

He stopped in front of room 609 and went straight through the wall. The girl lying there suffered from AIDS in a late stadium, he knew. She could not live long. Carefully, he nudged her hand and felt her stir in response. A minute later, she was sitting upright, frowning at the machines around her.

"Anubis?" Her voice wasn't the one of a child anymore. Her eyes roamed his anteater-like shape quickly. "Hey, you know, you don't have any reason to walk around like that anymore, don't you?"

Smirking at her words, he transformed into his human shape, Paul as he should have been. "Better that way?"

"Much better, although I must confess I've seen enough of Paul and Doctor "slaughter-my-brain". Too sad Mary hadn't been able to keep them from coming here. Carmen is still alive?"

He snarled at the simple mention of her name and turned away again. Had he known five years before how vital this girl actually was, he could have saved himself five years of grief.

"Don't do it." She mentioned quickly, knowing all too well what he was thinking about. "You don't give her a single scratch, understood? Let me deal with her." She saw him frown again and reached for his hand to keep him from turning away. "Anubis, you know I can't stay in this body for too long. It would kill that poor girl. You didn't cure her for that, did you? I just put a boys life on the line and I lost him to Paul – don't force me to do that again!"

"We could end this so easily…"

"But not without killing someone!" She snapped back. "Anubis, I have spent all those millennia not taking a single life and I won't start with it now. Not too safe myself. That's not just. May others plunge their hands into blood and-" She stopped abruptly, gulping for air as the body she inhabited started to collapse. "Get that Paul kid away from her, Anubis. Please!"

The girl fell back into the pillows. A nurse rushed through the door, alerted by the wild beeping of the machines. Gritting his teeth once again, Anubis vanished through the wall. Maybe she would not sacrifice a single human life, but he would not sacrifice HER.

* * *

OMG, guys, I'M so sorry I'm writing back so late! I was cut offt he internet for the last two months, but I hope I'll be able to compensate that within the next month. Sorry guys. Hope you're still up and around to review. 


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